Wide Sargasso Sea

This prelude to Charlotte Bronte's novel, Jane Eyre, was written by Jean Rhyss. Set in the West Indies the book is the story of Antoinette Cosway and her relationship with Rochester before he took her to England. Events and often misunderstandings in Antoinette's early life determine her eventual path to insanity. Much of the book deals with Antoinette's struggle for identity and acceptance against the backdrop of the environment in which she lives and the prejudices of those around her.